Next Generation Weasleys
by Gryffindor777
Summary: Will introduce and tell the stories of the children of the various Weasleys, as well as the children of Lupin and Tonks. Follows my Seventh Year fic, so feel free to read that first. Please read and Review to let me know what you think.
1. Victory Day

A/N: All right... This story is going to be kind of weird... It's going to be random stories about various members of the Weasley/Potter clan (plus Lupin's kids), during the generation after Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Hopefully, it will be funny at least some of the time, and if nothing else, it should give me an opportunity to do a lot of characterization of the various characters, which I think is my favorite part of fanfiction. Anyway, this story assumes that everything which happened in my 7th year fanfiction actually happened... That fic is now completed, so if you plan to read it, you should probably do it before you read this. This chapter, unlike the rest of the chapters, will be from the point of view of Harry instead of any of the kids, but I think this works as an introduction chapter.

Chapter 1:

Victory Day

Given that the governors of Hogwarts were now entirely sure that Voldemort was defeated for real this time, they found it fitting to give the students off for one week in May to commemorate the day final defeat. Doing this delayed the start of summer-break, but it also gave the students a bit of time to relax with their families before the students' end-of-year tests, and they were generally grateful for the opportunity.

"Victory day" or Victory Over Voldemort Day, had become one of the few national holidays among witches and wizards in Britain, and on this anniversary, 18 years after Voldemort was finally defeated, the anniversary happened to fall on a Tuesday.

As had become tradition for this day each year, Number 12 Grimmauld Place, the current residence of Harry and Ginny Potter, was abuzz with activity as almost 40 people gathered for their yearly celebratory feast.

When they were all finally seated, the guests occupied two long tables, and the noise in the house's spacious dining hall was nearly uproarious. Harry knew that they were expecting him to quiet them all in order for him to make his annual speech, before the food was served, but he figured he'd let them talk for a bit first. Simple logistical concerns meant that the over 30 guests, mostly relatives, rarely got the chance to be in the same room as each other.

Harry looked around each of the tables, surveying all the people who had come. He first looked around the adult-table, of which he was seated at the head. Next to him, on his left, was Ginny. Next to her was Alicia, next to her husband of sixteen years, George Weasley. Next to George, as usual, was Fred, sitting next to his wife of seventeen years, Angelina Johnson. Next to her were Remus and Nymphadora Lupin, who was still referred to as Tonks in spite of the fact that they had been married for nearly 18 years now. At the far end of the table were Percy and Penelope. Percy had started attending family functions after he had returned to at least reasonably good graces with the rest of the Weasleys toward the end of Voldemort's reign of terror. He had married Penelope soon after. On the other side of the table were Bill and Fleur. Next to them were Molly and Arthur. On Harry's other side was Ron, sitting next to Hermione.

At the other table, which was even longer than the first, were the various offspring of the six remaining Weasley children, as well as those of Lupin and Tonks. The oldest of the children were in their fifth year at Hogwarts. These three were all in Gryffindor, and included John Weasley, son of Bill and Fleur, Benjamin, son of Percy and Penelope, and Sirius Lupin. Holding Sirius' hand and sitting very close to him was Augusta Kathryn Weasley, who preferred to be called Kathy. It seemed that if the two of them had their way, soon Lupin, Tonks, and their children would no longer be unrelated by marriage to the rest of the people there. Kathy was the daughter of Hermione and Ron, and was in her fourth year in Ravenclaw. She had been the first Weasley to be put in a house other than Gryffindor for over fifty years, but Hermione seemed fairly proud of the fact, and even Ron didn't seem to mind. Even the other kids were fairly tolerant of it, although those who played on the Gryffindor Quidditch team had been rather angry when she had scored 100 points as chaser in a Quidditch match against them. Two members of that Gryffindor Quidditch team had, in fact, been Andy and Phil, the twin sons of Fred and Angelina. They were in their fourth year.

Patricia Weasley and Charlie Potter were sitting next to each other. Neither of them were in Gryffindor. Patricia was in Ravenclaw, and she was a third year in Ravenclaw. Charlie had been sorted into Slytherin.

Harry had often wondered why exactly that had happened, but it wasn't something that he was too worried about. Charlie certainly didn't behave like certain other Slytherins Harry had known. In fact, from what Charlie had been telling him earlier that week, he didn't get along with most of his fellow housemates. This was, of course, rather inconvenient for Charlie personally, but did relieve Harry somewhat.

Paul Weasley, the other third year among the grandchildren of Arthur and Molly Weasley, had been sorted into Gryffindor. He was the son of George and Alicia. Glen Lupin was also in his third year in Gryffindor. Jacob and Andrea Weasley were both in their second year in Gryffindor. Jacob was the second son of Percy and Penelope, and Andrea was the daughter of Ron and Hermione.

Lily Potter and Jack Weasley, who was the son of Fred and Angelina, were both in their first year of Gryffindor. James Potter, as well as Ian and Jennifer Weasley (children of George and Ron respectively) were each about to begin at Hogwarts next year.

Terry Weasley, Son of Bill and Fleur, and Christine Weasley, the daughter of Percy and Penelope, would begin the year after that.

Harry was broken out of his surveying of his various guests by Paul, who yelled, "C'mon Uncle Harry! We're starving here!"

"Yeah, come on Dad, give your speech," suggested Charlie.

"All right, then," conceded Harry, who stood from his chair. "Before we begin, let us take just a moment to remember everyone who should be here today, but isn't," suggested Harry. The adults there knew many people who they wished were there, and four of the children present were named after such people. Harry paused for several seconds within his speech before moving on. "We get together each year on this day to remember what is important to all of us: family and friendship. And we also remember the major lesson that we can all take from the memory of Voldemort. He taught us that sometimes, we have to fight, and make sacrifices for what we believe in, and for our family and friends. Of course, just because these fights aren't always as publicized as my fight with Voldemort, doesn't mean that they're not important. Some of us here are professors, many parents, others prefects, many students, and others soon to be students. No matter which of these positions we find ourselves in, we have to struggle on a daily basis for what we believe in and to make the world a better place." It was at this part in the speech where he was somewhat nervous that he was starting to get a bit too sappy, so it was then that he had decided the speech should end. "And with that," he finished, "let's eat!"

There was a quick round of applause from everyone present, and then food appeared on the plates. This was made possible by Dobby, Winky, and their children, who were uncomfortable with the prospect of an entire week off during the school year, and had therefore asked to help Harry give the feast. Hermione had been opposed to this idea at first, but Dobby had explained to her that he really wanted to help. Meanwhile, Harry promised Hermione that he would pay the House Elves well for their effort, and also give them socks, which was an article of clothing which Dobby was still ridiculously excited about, as were his children. Hermione had eventually acquiesced, but mostly out of the interest of keeping the gathering civil.

"So, how's life as a professor treating you?" Harry asked Ron as everyone present began to dig in to the food.

"Still rather well," said Ron. He had been teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts for the past ten years. Before that, he had been an Auror, having begun the official auror training right after Hogwarts.

"And what about for you?" he asked Hermione.

"Very well," said Hermione. "Although... Certain of your relatives have been causing a bit of trouble in my class."

"Really?" asked Harry, somewhat concerned. "Not Charlie or Lily, was it?"

"No, no," said Hermione. "I would say that they're as well behaved as anyone with Potter-blood in them could be. No, it's more Andy and Phil... I think they've taken over Fred and George's position."

"No doubt aided by Fred and George's own prank products," pointed out Ginny.

"Yeah," said Hermione. "I've considered talking to Fred about it, but they're not being _that _out of control, and I want to make sure that I'm not particularly hard on them just because we're related. Besides, I think that they're actually holding back a bit simply _because _we're related. From what I've heard from Jenkins, they're much worse in his classes."

"Yeah," said Ron, "but that's not just because they're not related to him."

"Who's Jenkins again?" asked Harry, who knew he had heard the name before, probably from conversations with Ron and Hermione as well as with his own children.

"He's the Potions professor and the head of the Slytherin house," said Hermione.

"Yeah, and a bit of a git, from what I've heard," said Ron.

"Why, what happened?" asked Harry.

"Kathy says she's been getting lower marks ever since she let slip in his class that she's a half-blood. And he's _always _taking points away from Gryffindor," said Ron.

Harry immediately thought that this was horrible, and hoped that Andy and Phil were getting back at him very well.

To Harry's surprise, however, Hermione actually spoke in his defense. "Well, we don't really know that he's actually giving her the lower marks because of her ancestry. He treats me pretty well. And even _I'm _always taking points from Gryffindor. It's a wonder they've got _any _points with so many Weasleys in their house."

"You _really _think that Kathy might be lying about that?" asked Ron, surprised.

"Well, no, I don't think she's lying, but what if she's just not doing as well now as she had been before?" asked Hermione, who apparently had a very big problem with the prospect of speaking ill of her colleagues.

"It'd be quite a coincidence, wouldn't it?" asked Ron. "Besides, she's _your _daughter. If she thinks she's making the potions right, then she's making the potions right. At any rate, she's been barely scraping acceptables with him lately. After she takes her OWLs next year, when they come back with an Outstanding in Potions, you'll know she's right."

"Why don't we talk about something else?" asked Hermione, who seemed not to want to admit anything about the possibility that Jenkins was cheating her daughter out of high marks. "Have you caught anyone important lately?" she asked Harry and Ginny, referring to their lives as aurors.

Ginny had decided during her seventh year at Hogwarts that she would be an auror. It had actually been during a conversation with Harry on a Hogsmeade weekend during that year that she had first really considered becoming an auror.

It had been after a particularly tough week of training, and Harry had mentioned how lucky Ginny was that she'd never have to go through auror-training.

"I haven't really decided that I won't be an auror," said Ginny, as if Harry's implication that she wouldn't be one was insulting.

Harry had laughed at the thought of Ginny being an auror, not on purpose, but it had happened anyway. "No, Ginny, I'm sorry... I didn't mean anything by that. You could be an auror if you wanted to," he said.

"You sound patronizing now!" accused Ginny. Looking back on the conversation now, Harry realized that she had probably been right.

According to Ginny, it was that conversation that had first made her start thinking about the prospect of becoming an auror.

It was during the next Hogsmeade weekend that she announced to him that she was now planning to become an auror.

When she had said so, Harry said, "Er... you're not actually choosing your career path to get back at me for being condescending, are you?"

"Only partially," joked Ginny.

"So... what other reasons do you have?" asked Harry. It wasn't that he didn't want Ginny to become an auror, he just thought it was an odd change of heart.

"Well... It really is the most important job a person can have..." started Ginny.

"I don't know if it's the _most _important," he said. "Healers are pretty important, too... And professors. And remember, some day we're probably going to have kids. I do still have quite an account in Gringotts, you don't _really_ have to work at all." At this point, of course, Harry and Ginny had already been engaged, Harry having proposed right after he had defeated Voldemort.

"You probably wouldn't have to work either," said Ginny.

"Okay, fair point. So, I suppose we're both going to work. But, do we _really _both have to be aurors?" he asked.

"I think I'd really enjoy the job," said Ginny. "And I'm sure that we could have relatively flexible hours so that we have time with our children, too. Really, they'll give you whatever hours you want, rather than _not _have Harry Potter on their staff. And I'm sure they'd give me maternity leave or something."

"Yes, I suppose they'd be rather accommodating," admitted Harry. "Just so long as we're both through training before we have kids... But training only takes two years. And, I suppose that if you think it'll make you happy, that's all that really matters."

"It really is," said Ginny. "Besides, if I'm not out there with you, who'll protect you?"

"I dunno... Ron maybe?" asked Harry.

"Oh, come on," said Ginny.

"All right, fine, I suppose that you might be able to protect me better than Ron. And, of course, I was never going to try to stop you from becoming an auror anyway," said Harry.

"Because you never had the option," pointed out Ginny. "Remember, we decided that once the war was over, you didn't get to make any more decisions for me. In fact, we decided that I would get to make decisions for _you_... So, really, you're the one who ought to be convincing me that _you_ should become an auror."

"But you'd let me," said Harry. "You just want to see me happy."

"Yes, yes," said Ginny. "I'm a bit of a softie like that, eh?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way," said Harry.

Harry stopped reminiscing and drew himself back to the present conversation.

"They haven't let Harry and I on patrol together much lately, but it's still not too bad. They've had me patrolling with Clara, which is nice. We caught Mundugus Fletcher on a petty theft charge the other day... But all he had to do was pay back the victim, and pay the ministry five times the amount. He didn't have much trouble doing that, mind, since he seems to have quite a prosperous business going. Of course, we're sure that most of it is illegal, but we're having a hard time proving most of the charges. It's actually kind of boring, as far as that goes... But with most of the former Death-Eaters having been caught or lying low, there's really a lot less excitement for those of us who are aurors."

Ginny, of course was somewhat downplaying the excitement of the job. There were still plenty of muggle-haters and practitioners of the Dark-Arts out there, and they spent a lot of time chasing them down. Ginny was playing this element down because every once in awhile, Ron complained about the fact that sometimes he still wished he hadn't given up his job as auror to become a professor. Most of the time, he was happy with his decision, but Ginny and Harry had both decided not to brag too much about their jobs when Ron was around, so as not to rekindle any old doubts that Ron might be feeling.

"What about you, Harry?" asked Ron.

"The other week, I helped catch a rogue werewolf who hadn't taken proper precautions to keep himself locked up during his transformation. We were lucky to catch him before he did any more than property-damage, so he'll get off with little more than a slap on the wrist. We had a good talk with him, though, and we don't think he'll be doing it again."

"Hey, Dad," called Lily, "you need to come over here, we need you to solve an argument."

"You're father's eating," pointed out Ginny.

"Oh, really," said Harry. "Conversation's always more important than food."

"Are you sure about that?" asked Ron, who had already eaten about twice as much as Harry.

"Yes," said Harry, as he stood up and began to walk over to the spot at the kids' table where Lily appeared to be arguing with Andrea.

As he walked over, he heard several bits of other conversations that his various relatives were engaged in.

Sirius was asking Charlie, "So, has anyone used the snail-shower lately?"

"Yeah," said Charlie. "Actually, Arthur accidentally used it again the other day... He wasn't too happy."

"Yes, that _is _a bit of a pity. He's perhaps the only Slytherin male other than you who _doesn't_ deserve it," chimed in Ben.

"Ah, well... If only we could convince the other Slytherins to actually shower," said Sirius.

"Sounds like our next mission," agreed John. "Although that _could _be a bit of a challenge."

Then, he passed Augusta, who was telling Patricia, "So, my point is, Sirius and I owe quite a debt of gratitude to that particular broom-closet."

Then, Harry reached Lily. "So, what's going on, honey?"

"Our grandfather, he was a Chaser, right, not a seeker?" she asked.

"Right. I was a seeker," said Harry.

"Well, we knew _that_," said Andrea.

"Anyway, I was telling her that being a chaser was in my blood, and she didn't believe me," said Lily.

"Your mum was a chaser too, you know," Harry reminded her.

"I know... I was telling her both my Mum and my grandfather were chasers. So, that's two chasers to one seeker. That means I should be better at chasing, I think," explained Lily.

"True, but your Mum wasn't a bad seeker, either, when she substituted for me one year," Harry said.

"You're not helping," groaned Lily, who then grinned at Harry to show that she wasn't actually angry.

Lily had recently told Harry that she wanted to try out for Chaser during the next year, since the current captain of the team, who was also a chaser, was in her seventh year.

Harry walked back toward his spot at the table.

As he passed Charlie again, he heard Sirius ask him, "So, is there anything between you and that Chloe girl?"

Charlie seemed to hesitate for a moment. "I don't think so..."

"I just can't wait to get to Hogwarts," James said to Jennifer as Harry passed the two of them.

As Harry sat down, he contemplated the fact that in another two years, there would be at least one Weasley in every single year at Hogwarts. Hogwarts had experienced some strange situations while occupied by the people who were in that room at that time, and Harry had a feeling that things were not going to get any less interesting very soon.

A/N: All right, so... This chapter didn't really follow the structure that the rest of the chapters probably will. But, basically, what I think is going to happen is that each of the next chapters will chronicle significant events in one of the characters' lives... I know there're a few characters that are definitely going to have a few chapters that they're the center of, but any characters that reviewers show particular interest in will probably also be written about. Anyway, I definitely need some encouragement to make me sure that this fic is really even worth writing, so... If you think you'd like to read about any of the characters that I introduced in this chapter, please let me know.


	2. The Slytherin Misfits

A/N: Ok, this chapter takes place at the start of Charlie's first year. I realize that at this point, you may not have the relative ages of the different characters down, but I think that this is made clear in context whenever it actually matters, so you should be fine. Also, I would like to thank Gigifanfic, who pointed out an inconsistency in the first chapter which I have since revised (I also corrected an oversight that I found myself, but both are relatively minor, so you don't really have to reread). Thanks also to my other reviewers, "mixedupmessedupbooks," "Kolena," "lizhasredhair" and "Wolf's Scream." I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter.

Chapter 2:

The Slytherin Misfits

Looking back on it years later, Charlie Potter would determine that his first 24 hours at Hogwarts had been the most important. It had been an odd whirlwind of emotions, but the consequences of that day had determined so much of the rest of his experience at Hogwarts, and indeed, in the rest of his life in general.

The first train-ride to Hogwarts had been a very pleasant affair for him. He'd been in a compartment with seven of his cousins, plus the Lupin brothers, and aside from the absence of the younger children, the atmosphere in that compartment was much like that at the Burrow, where all of those present had spent so many days over the previous summer.

When Theodore Malfoy poked his head into the compartment briefly, along with Knott and Zabini, they all quickly turned and left.

"Must've been looking for some first-years to pick on," said Sirius.

"They know they can't get away with picking on anybody in their own year, like us," said John.

"Maybe we should go after them," suggested Phillip.

"Yeah," agreed his twin, Andrew. "You know, just to make sure they don't get out of hand."

"Do you _really _have to go getting in trouble before we even get to Hogwarts?" Kathy asked severely.

John rolled his eyes. "Really, now, Aunt Hermione, loosen up a bit, would you?"

As much as all Hermione's nieces and nephews adored their aunt, they had always been a bit disturbed about how much Kathy took after her mother.

"Oh, come on, don't be like that, I just think we should all spend this time together. I might not get to talk to you lot for weeks, now that we're going to be at school again. Sometimes it's downright annoying being in Ravenclaw," said Kathy.

"Oh, don't worry," said Patricia, Bill and Fleur's second child, who was about to start her first year at school, "maybe one of us will get sorted into Ravenclaw with you."

Charlie thought that this was a nice sentiment for his cousin to express, but knew that he would be rather disappointed if he were to be sorted into Ravenclaw. He had always seen himself in Gryffindor.

When he heard all the stories about his father (mostly from his mother, as his father was personally a bit too modest to talk about his own triumphs too much) he had gotten the distinct impression that Gryffindor was the best house to be in. At the very least, it seemed like the house that was best to go in if you wanted to show that you were brave. And Charlie wanted to do just that, because in spite of his young age, he had recently gotten it into his head that it was his duty to carry on the Potter name, in the tradition of the notable James Potter, and the almost legendary Harry Potter.

In spite of how comfortable he was, surrounded with his cousins, and the Lupins, who he thought of as almost honorary cousins, Charlie didn't speak too much during the first part of the ride to Hogwarts.

"Why're you so quiet?" Patricia asked eventually, coming to sit next to him while the larger conversation went on around them.

He just smiled and said, "I don't know, the conversation seemed to be doing just fine without me."

It was true. The other cousins were mostly talking about Quidditch, and who would try out this year. Most of the third years present were already on a team, and most of the second years were planning to try out. Since the first years were not allowed to have brooms on campus, trying out for Quidditch wasn't really an option. So, under the circumstances, there really wasn't that much for Charlie to contribute, besides which, when so many of the older Weasley-cousins got together, it sometimes was difficult for one to get a word in edgewise.

"Yeah, well... We could talk about something other than Quidditch. What do you think it'll be like to have Aunt Hermione as a professor?" she asked.

Charlie laughed a bit at the thought. "It's going to be tough," said Charlie. "I mean, we'll have to take her seriously, of course, but after hearing the way Uncle Ron talks to my Dad about her sometimes, it could be difficult."

Patricia giggled. "He pops over to our house sometimes to complain, too. Used to wake me up nights, sometimes. I'd be lying in bed hearing how 'Hermione's so bloody anal-retentive!' I asked my mum the next day what anal-retentive meant, and she wouldn't tell me. Ended up asking John, 'cause I thought it might be a curse-word."

It was common knowledge among the grandchildren of Arthur and Molly Weasley that when it came to learning the meaning of forbidden words, Patricia's brother John was the go-to guy.

"You're so lucky he's your older brother," said Charlie, glancing over at John, who had gotten his broom out of its trunk and seemed to be reenacting a particularly splendid moment of Gryffindor Quidditch-history, albeit on the ground, since the ceiling of the compartment was far too low to allow for any type of aerial performance.

"Eh, I'll agree with you in general," acknowledged Patricia, "although, if you're ever in the mood for peace and quiet, he can be rather a chore."

Charlie eyed her suspiciously, to confirm that he was in fact speaking to a Weasley. Granted, simply looking at her didn't do terribly much to confirm this, given that she had blond hair. In spite of the increasing genetic diversity of the Weasley family, she was still the only one of them whose hair was actually blond. "But why would you ever be in the mood for peace and quiet?"

Patricia laughed. "I don't know... If I'm sick or something, I guess?"

When the food trolley came around each of those present fished in their pockets for a couple of sickles from the spending money that their parents had given them for the term and purchased a huge communal pile of cauldron-cakes, pumpkin pasties, Bert's Every Flavor Beans, and, of course, chocolate frogs.

Two hours later, the train pulled in to Hogsmeade station, and Charlie, Paul Weasley, Glen Lupin, and Patricia shared a boat across the lake to Hogwarts. Hagrid, who was on the boat in front of them, yelled at one point to Charlie, "You must be Charlie Potter, then, eh? You look just like your father did in is first year... 'Course, you haven't got a scar..." Charlie had never met Hagrid, although his father sometimes visited him.

When they got to the castle, his Aunt Hermione, who was now the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, was the one who directed them into the small room off the Great Hall and told them to get into alphabetical order.

Lupin went up toward the middle of the line, and there were about ten people between Charlie and the Weasleys. There were about sixty different first years in the room.

It was at that time that Charlie first began to realize just how big a place Hogwarts was, and how many people were there, so many of whom he had never met before. He started to get a bit nervous, and looked back toward Patricia.

She smiled warmly at him, and he felt a little bit better. He, Kathy, and Patricia were pretty close, since both he and Kathy spent a good bit of time at Patricia's house. Hermione and Ron were usually at the school, although they had been allowed to live with their children in Hogsmeade rather than staying in Hogwarts Castle as was customary for professors. Ginny and Harry were often off on simultaneous patrols as aurors. Thus, Fleur, who was a stay at home mum had often babysat Kathy and her siblings as well as Charlie and his. With John often off with his friends, Kathy, Patricia, and Charlie had spent a lot of time together over the years, as the oldest kids present. Last year especially, with Kathy already off in her first year at Hogwarts, Patricia and he had gotten to know each other rather well. He hoped that they wouldn't get placed in separate houses.

The bright side of Kathy having been to Hogwarts before them was that she had told them all about the sorting ceremony, which left Charlie immune to all the speculation around him about whether they might have to kill a troll and ride a unicorn, or vice versa. Still, having a hat decide so much about a person's destiny was rather daunting.

When they were led out to the Great Hall, Charlie got a bit of stage-fright. He was pretty sure he heard people muttering the name 'Potter'. It was nothing like his father had had to deal with, of course, but a certain amount of celebrity status came with the territory of being the son of the most famous wizard alive, no matter much his father had tried to minimize this. Charlie admired his father a great deal, but he sometimes resented living in his shadow so much, in spite of how young he still was. Whenever they had gone to Diagon Alley, which they had done a fair amount as Charlie was growing up, well-intentioned people would congratulate him on how lucky he was to have a father like Harry Potter. Of course, they weren't wrong, he was an excellent father and all, but Charlie wanted to make his own name for himself.

And the day when he finally had the opportunity to start making his own name for himself, he was being muttered about, no doubt in reference to his father.

Charlie felt his eyes roll.

Hermione put the Sorting Hat on a small stool, and it began to sing,

"You should all know that today is an important day,

So much of your lives depend on what I say,

Oh what great power will be mine,

I will determine with whom you dine,

I will decide who will be in your classes,

And whom you will ask to pass the molasses,

Will you end up in the House of Gryffindor's lion,

Where dwell those with the least fear of dyin'?

Will you end up in the house with Ravenclaw's bird,

Where people study so much it's really absurd?

You might end up in the house of good Hufflepuff,

If perseverance and hard work are your stuff,

And in the house of great Slytherin's snake,

Will be those who do anything for their goals' sake.

So hear what I say and then don't hesitate,

To go to your house and find your new best mate."

The Hall erupted into cheers after the hat finished, then, after Avery, Roger, was put into Hufflepuff, that house burst into cheers again.

Charlie retreated into his own thoughts for a bit, simply making note of who was put into Gryffindor, which was the House where Charlie expected he'd be put. When it came to be Glen Lupin's turn, Charlie watched attentively, but was quite unsurprised to see him put into Gryffindor. Then, a couple minutes later, Charlie came forward to try on the hat himself, and that's when the real surprises started.

The hat was silent for a moment when it was put on Charlie's head. He had rather expected it to call out "Gryffindor" immediately, as it had done for Lupin. Charlie wondered what it was thinking.

"Wonder what I'm thinking, do you?" the sorting hat asked so that only Charlie could hear.

_Er... Yes, _thought Charlie.

"You're a tough one to place, you are," replied the sorting hat.

_Really? I would've thought Gryffindor for sure. That's where both my parents went. _

"Yes, of course. I remember. I've also placed several of your cousins there. And that _would _be the easy choice. But you don't strike me as one who would go for the easy choice," said the sorting hat.

_What do you mean? _wondered Charlie.

"Well, in Gryffindor, I suspect you'd do just fine. But you're a lot like a Slytherin in some ways, too. You have the potential to be quite cunning and calculating. But you also have a good heart. Still, seven years in Slytherin would do a lot for you. I will say this: You would make a good Gryffindor. But, if you're a Slytherin, you could be great," advised the Sorting Hat.

_Great _and _good_? asked Charlie. He was wondering whether becoming a Slytherin would corrupt the 'good heart' that the hat had mentioned. He wouldn't mind being great, he figured, but he didn't want to do it if it would mean that he would lose that goodness which he had come to identify with Gryffindors, the Weasleys, and his parents in particular.

"Yes, you could be great and good. Whether or not you're good is always your own choice, no matter what house you're in," responded the hat.

Then, Charlie made a decision that he would think about many times over the next years. _Well. Make it Slytherin, then._

The hat called out, "Slytherin!" Charlie took off the hat.

After that, there was a stunned silence from the Great Hall. The entire Gryffindor table had been tensing itself to cheer, figuring that the son of Harry Potter was a sure thing for the Gryffindor camp, especially with so many of his cousins already among them.

The Slytherin table took a while to decide whether or not it should cheer.

Phillip and Andrew Weasley, who, like their father, were never much ones for awkward silences called out, "We'll take him if you don't want him!"

At that point, a few Slytherins started to cheer, most of them half-heartedly. Several actually booed.

Charlie hesitated for a moment, wondering why in the world he had just chosen to go into Slytherin. What did "great" mean, anyhow, and would it be worth being put in a house where people were actually _booing_ his being sorted into their house?

At that point, Charlie gritted his teeth, knowing that the decision had already been made. He made his way off to his table to sit down, although he did have the sense to make his way over to a part of the table where people had been cheering instead of booing.

A couple people sitting around him seemed to think that the most tactful thing they could stomach doing for him was to be silent, but a pretty girl with black hair whom he was sitting next to turned out to be the first Slytherin who he ever met in person.

She stuck out her hand to shake his, saying, "Hi, my name is Daphne Zachary."

Charlie smiled at her as he took her hand. "Hi." After they released hands, he asked, "What year are you in, then?"

"Third."

"Oh, so you got to pick some of your own classes this year, then?" asked Charlie, who had heard about the process from John, Sirius, and Benjamin.

"Yes, I'm taking Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes," she said. They were talking in hushed tones, as the sorting was still going on.

"Runes, huh? Sounds tough," he said.

"I s'pose," she replied. They were quiet for a moment. "Can I ask you a silly question?"

He groaned inwardly, expecting something about his father. But he nodded anyway. After all, Daphne was the first person in Slytherin showing any sign of being civil toward him, so he reckoned he'd do best to return the favor.

"Did the Sorting Hat say anything to you, when it was quiet? You know, sort of debating its decision?" she asked.

"Er, yeah," said Charlie.

Daphne grinned. "It did that with me, too. I don't really want to talk right now about what it said to me, so I won't ask you to tell me what it said to you either, but maybe someday, when we know each other better, we can talk to each other about it. You reckon?"

"Sure," said Charlie, who was pleased that Daphne expected that they'd be getting to know each other better, in spite of the fact that she was two years older than him. He hadn't been too sure about how much of a factor age would be in determining social circles at Hogwarts.

"You probably want to pay attention, now... Only one more before your cousin there," said Daphne, pointing to Paul, whose red hair, coupled with his position toward the end of the line, identified him unmistakably as a Weasley.

"Oh, wow, you're right. That one's my cousin, too, actually. Her name's Patricia," said Charlie, right before Hermione called her name.

The hat sat on her head for a few moments, too, and for several hopeful seconds, Charlie wondered whether she might somehow be placed into Slytherin as well. There proved to be no such luck, however, as she was placed into Ravenclaw. That would make Kathy happy, at least.

Paul was sorted into Gryffindor the moment the hat touched his head.

"Must've been judging by his hair," joked Daphne with a grin, as the Gryffindor table cheered and Paul went to claim a seat beside Glen.

Soon, Headmistress McGonagall opened the dinner with a short speech.

"So how is it, being in Slytherin?" asked Charlie in somewhat hushed tones. He wasn't sure he wanted anyone else in the house to hear him sounding like he was doubting Slytherin's supremacy, but they seemed to be absorbed enough in their own conversations, which involved neither him nor Daphne, to notice.

"Don't rightly know, I suppose," Daphne responded. "I never have fit in properly with the Slytherins. I go to club meetings just to get out of the common room, and I'm in the library more often than some of the Ravenclaws." She looked around the table and hushed her voice even further. "But, I've found that if I ignore them, they're content to ignore me, too. Mostly, they compete amongst themselves, and try to preserve their power and popularity-structures. Since I've carefully positioned myself in the library, far from the competitions and whatnot, they don't seem too concerned about me. 'Course, I'm sorry to say, you might not get off so easy... They didn't _boo_ me when I got sorted."

Charlie shook his head. "Thanks for not booing, by the way," he said.

"I wouldn't do something like that," said Daphne.

"Well, that's good," said Charlie. "I figure I might end up spending a good bit of time with you in the library this term."

Daphne smiled. "I'm always open to company."

"Glad to hear it," said Charlie.

They spent the rest of the meal in friendly conversation, and by the end of the meal, Charlie judged that being in Slytherin might not be quite as bad as the booing had implied.

But then, when he got up to his bunk at the end of the night, with five other Slytherin first years, he thought he might have to reevaluate this optimistic outlook.

He only remembered one of the names of the other first year Slytherins, so far, and that was Arthur Crabbe. He had remembered the first name because it was his grandfathers' first name, and the last name because he remembered from the stories about Harry's youth that Ginny had told him at bedtime when he was younger that Crabbe was the name of one of Malfoy's infamous cronies.

Surprisingly to Charlie, he was the only one who didn't crack a joke of some kind at his expense. The most benign of these jokes had been to ask whether he had gotten lost on the way to the Gryffindor common room, and the most notably hostile one was when one of his roommates asked whether he reckoned that he had inherited his father's ability to reflect the Avada Kedavra curse, pointing his wand at him menacingly.

"You couldn't _possibly _be able to use such advanced magic yet, we haven't even had class," said Charlie, who had by this point determined that ignoring them wasn't going to work and that he would have to do his best to hold his own.

"Well, I _would _test it out," replied the one making the threat, "but I reckon they'd expel me if I killed you the first night."

At that point, they chose their beds, and Charlie made a point to choose one as far as possible from the kid who he had began to refer to as "Avada-boy" in his mind.

_Well,_ thought Charlie, as he trailed off to sleep, _this is going to be quite a year. _

The next morning, Charlie woke up early, and went off to the shower, which the prefects had shown the first years the night before. He was hoping to get down to breakfast before most of the other Slytherins, as he was trying to give Daphne's 'ignoring them' policy at least one more try.

After he had dressed and was making his way through the dungeons up to the Great Hall, Charlie encountered the last two people who he would have expected to see in the dungeons, John and Sirius.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, as they began to accompany him on his walk up toward the Great Hall.

"You haven't taken a shower yet, have you?" asked John.

"Er, _what?_" asked Charlie.

"Have you taken a shower?" repeated Sirius, slower.

"Yes," said Charlie, who wondered where exactly this line of question was heading.

"I reckon you didn't use the third stall from the left, then?" asked John.

"I don't remember," said Charlie, who was beginning to wonder just why his cousin and his best friend were taking such a keen interest in the details of his shower.

"Hm, well. Remember from now on that you oughtn't to use that one. One in three times, the showerhead emits snails, rather than water."

"Snails?" asked Charlie, quizzically. "Like those things we find in Grandma's garden sometimes?"

"With the beards and the hats? Those are gnomes, but good try." said John jokingly.

"It'd be rather difficult to get gnomes to come out of the showerheads," explained Sirius helpfully.

"No, I mean, the tiny things with the shells," replied Charlie.

"Oh, yes," said Sirius. "Those. Although they haven't got shells when they're coming out of the showerhead."

"Why in the world do snails sometimes come out of a Slytherin showerhead?" asked Charlie.

"'Cause we're geniuses," said Sirius.

"_Modest _geniuses," specified John.

"But seriously, it's tough magic," said Sirius. "And then there was the bit about actually getting _in _to the Slytherin shower. But we managed."

"So you're telling me that in second year, at an age when certain of your relatives were figuring out how to foil a basilisk, you were charming showers to spray snails at people?" Charlie asked John.

"Precisely. Actually, we'll be interested to know when it finally gets fixed. We heard grumblings about snails in the shower toward the end of last year, so we know they hadn't figured out how to stop it from happening by then. But it doesn't seem to be inconveniencing them enough for them to try to stop it," said John.

"How could you know that?" asked Charlie. "Maybe they tried and it and it just didn't work."

"No, they must've just tried another shower," said Sirius. "Because we made it so that if anyone tries to actually lift the curse, there's another curse already on the showerhead that should make it shoot out pus. And we haven't heard anyone talk about pus."

"We think it's because the Slytherins don't shower enough for it to matter. In fact, that was our point in doing this in the first place," claimed John.

"Well, that and to get the Slytherins covered with snails. But also to make a statement about their personal hygiene," confirmed Sirius.

By this point, they had made it to the Great Hall.

"Well, then. Have a good breakfast," said John.

"Yes. We'd love to stay here and chat, but we must proceed to the Gryffindor table where we shall endeavor to think of ways to make garden gnomes come out of Slytherin shower-heads," said Sirius.

Charlie, shaking his head and grinning, found a remote seat at the nearly deserted Slytherin table.

After eating for a couple minutes in silence, Charlie looked up and was surprised to find Arthur Crabbe approaching the chair across from him.

"Mind if I sit here?" asked Crabbe in a voice more polite than Charlie would've expected.

Charlie eyed him suspiciously. "I suppose not," he said, cautiously.

"You don't have to be so suspicious," said Crabbe, as he sat down.

Charlie decided to take him at face-value on this for the moment. "Sorry, but my experience with Slytherins so far has left me a bit cautious."

"Yeah, they were pretty rough on you last night," agreed Crabbe.

"Too true," agreed Charlie. "So I suppose you're different from them?"

"I like to think so," responded Crabbe. "I guess you're right to be surprised, especially since you've probably heard of my father. But he was always a good bit more dumb than he was aggressively evil, and he ended up marrying a decent witch, who, in my opinion, must've been a bit desperate at the time. Still, he died in some odd magical accident when I was young, and I've been raised by my mother and her parents since then. So I like to think of myself as being as different from him as possible."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear about your father dying young," said Charlie sincerely.

"Yes, well. It happened a long time ago," said Crabbe.

There was a short awkward silence.

"Have they passed schedules out yet?" asked Crabbe after a moment.

"Not yet," replied Charlie.

"Hmm... Wonder what we'll have first," said Crabbe.

"I hope its Transfiguration or Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Charlie, who reckoned that having his first class with either his aunt or uncle might help ease the transition into being a Hogwarts student.

At that point, Daphne reached the table and sat down next to Charlie.

"Good morning, Daphne," said Charlie.

"G'morning. Who's this?" she asked, motioning to Crabbe.

"Arthur Crabbe," said Charlie.

"Nice to meet you, Arthur," said Daphne, shaking his hand. "I'm Daphne, as Charlie already mentioned."

"Nice to meet you, too," said Arthur.

They had a good breakfast conversation, after that. At one point, when they realized that most of the Slytherin table was full, aside from the seats directly surrounding them, Arthur declared, "Looks like we're the Slytherin misfits!"

That may have been the case, but, as Charlie would know later as he was looking back on his first hours at Hogwarts, he had already made two of the best friends he would ever find.

A/N: Well then. Pretty long chapter, for whatever that's worth. So, hopefully this chapter gives a bit of a better idea of what this story will be like. Basically, it'll have different 'episodes' from out of one particular character's life during each chapter. Please review and let me know whether you think this story's worth continuing. It'd be especially helpful to me if you could let me know if there are any characters you especially want to see in future chapters, so I can think of a chapter about them. Also, if there was anything you particularly liked about this chapter, let me know... Also... I'm trying to of what to classify this story as. Does anyone think it's funny enough yet to be in humor?


	3. The Thunderstorm

A/N: Right, so... Sorry this chapter took so long... And while Charlie does show up a bit in this chapter, it's primarily about Kathy (daughter of Ron and Hermione, in case you've forgotten). Oh, by the way, there's a reference in this chapter that you'll probably understand better if you've read my seventh year fic. Thus, feel free to read that, if you haven't yet... It's complete and all, so what're you waiting for? Additional note: Thanks to Wolf's Scream for pointing out some logical inconsistencies, which have since been corrected.

Chapter 3

The Thunderstorm

Augusta Kathryn Weasley would always remember the afternoon when she first realized she fancied Sirius Lupin. It was a warm summer day, before her fourth year at Hogwarts, and the Weasley clan was spending the week at their summer home on the shore.

The summer home had been a cooperative investment made by Fred, George and Harry, and actually resembled a hotel more than a conventional house. In fact, when members of the family weren't using it, they often rented out rooms to other wizarding families, as a side operation of Weasleys Wizard Wheezes Incorporated, which now included a second joke shop, a line of various candies, and a wizarding amusement park, in addition to this hotel.

At any rate, on this particular day, the building was occupied by Kathy's immediate family, as well as most of her cousins. The only family among the Weasleys that wasn't there was that of Bill and Fleur. They were off somewhere in continental Europe. France, or Belgium, or Switzerland, or something, Kathy believed. Since Bill and Fleur's family spent a part of their summer each year in a different European locale, it was somewhat hard for her to keep track.

The Lupins were also at the beach-house, that day, and since his best friend John was off with his parents, Sirius was spending his time with Kathy, Ben, and Charlie. Whenever a bunch of the Weasley grandchildren congregated in one place, they had no choice but to break into smaller groups, if any of them wanted to have coherent conversations without needing to scream. It was only logical that Ben and Sirius were hanging out, since, though Kathy wasn't very sure how, Ben had become best mates with both Sirius and John during their third year (Kathy's second). Kathy and Charlie had been talking to each other, and had managed to accidentally get into a splashing fight with Ben and Sirius when they were in the water, and the four had kept talking to each other afterward.

After they had pretty well exhausted themselves in the water, the four of them lay down on the beach and started chatting about the upcoming school-year.

"I hope Lily gets sorted into Gryffindor," said Charlie. "My dad will _not _be pleased if another child of his goes into Slytherin."

"How'd he react when you got placed there?" asked Ben. Ben was not nearly as close to Charlie as Kathy was. Thus, unlike Kathy, he hadn't asked him about this topic during Christmas break in Charlie's first year, after the first time he'd seen his father since being sorted.

"Well... He wasn't angry exactly," said Charlie. "At least not by the time I got home, anyway. I figure that was probably due to some coaxing by my mum. She always has been good at cooling his temper. But I do think he acted a bit distant from me at first, until he found out that most of the Slytherins treat me poorly. I think it wasn't until I revealed that Malfoy called me a mudblood for having a muggle-born grandmother that he finally decided he wouldn't have to disown me. His reaction to me telling him that was quite priceless, actually. I think he couldn't decide whether to be offended for me, or amused at the idiocy of Malfoy for calling me a mudblood in spite of the fact that I come from two of the oldest wizarding lines in Britain."

"You could have pointed out that at least our family's not all inbred like the Malfoys," Ben pointed out.

"Yeah," agreed Sirius. "Wasn't that Parkinson trollop Draco married his cousin or something?"

Kathy actually laughed out loud at that, before saying, "Ok, first of all, yes, I think they're second cousins once removed, or something. Second of all... Did you just say 'trollop'?"

"Yes, yes I did," said Sirius with a slightly proud looking grin.

"Well, that's good. You don't hear the word trollop as much as you used to," said Kathy.

"You used to hear it more often?" asked Ben skeptically.

"Er... Well... No, but... My point is it should be used more often," said Kathy, feeling a bit stupid for having commented on the word in the first place.

"Couldn't agree more," said Sirius, looking at Kathy with a winning grin that made her forget all about feeling stupid.

There was silence for a second, as Sirius and Kathy looked at each other. Kathy felt something like butterflies in her stomach, and wondered briefly whether Sirius felt the same thing.

Then, much to Kathy's disappointment, Charlie broke the silence, and Sirius looked away to look at him. "So, who do you reckon will be the Gryffindor prefects this year?"

Ben, Sirius, and John were each entering their fifth year.

"Probably John, for the male," said Sirius. "He's no better at his classes than Ben or I, but he's always been better at charming McGonagall. Not that he gets in any less trouble than us, but when we get caught trying to pull a prank, John's the one who comes the closest to getting McGonagall to laugh at how funny the prank would have been if we had managed to pull it off."

"Could be John," agreed Ben. "Frankly, I don't care who it is, though, as long as it's not Wood."

Travis Wood, who was the son of Oliver Wood, had born a grudge against Ben ever since Ben was made Keeper over him. The three were rather paranoid that if Travis were made prefect, he might go out of his way to try to get them into trouble. Not that that would be overly difficult to do.

"Oh, it won't be," said Sirius. "It'd be Thomas before it'd be Wood."

"Good point," agreed Ben.

At this point, Charlie seemed to be struck by a sudden inspiration and said, "Hey, do you lot think we should try to get a Quidditch match going?"

"Of course!" registered Sirius and Kathy promptly, in unison. Kathy was as big of a fan of Quidditch as the boys. During the previous year, Kathy had become the youngest Chaser on the Ravenclaw starting team, while Charlie had been made the Slytherin Seeker. Kathy and Sirius glanced quickly at each other, grinning at their identical reactions to Charlie's question. However, they didn't share a moment like they did the last time their eyes met. That is, assuming that the moment had been _shared _the first time, instead of something that she was just imagining.

"Oy!" yelled Charlie, having made his way toward the water so that the rest of the cousins would be able to hear him. "We're picking teams for Quidditch in five minutes. Anyone who wants to play, put some clothes on, get your brooms, and meet us behind the house."

As at Arthur and Molly's house, there was enough space between the beach-house and any muggle residences that it was safe to fly on their brooms without attracting attention.

A rather high proportion of the kids present played Quidditch for the house teams at Hogwarts, and even those that didn't still had a great interest in the sport.

"Do you reckon we ought to tell the adults?" asked Ben, as the four of them began to make their way toward the house to get their brooms. The adults were mostly in the house, apparently not quite having the energy to spend as much time on the beach as the kids tended to.

"We'll probably have enough for almost full teams even without them. We can mention that we're playing, but they probably won't play," said Sirius.

He turned out to be right. Some of the adults mentioned that they might get their own game together later, but they figured there'd be enough kids willing to play to make for a good game. When everyone had gathered in the back yard, there were twelve assorted members of the Weasley, Potter, and Lupin families. The only kids that weren't there were the very youngest. Even Lily Potter, and Fred's son Jack were there to play, although both were just about to start their first year, and therefore had only learned to fly from their parents. However, since both sets of parents were very competent flyers, their children had already become quite good.

Ben and Sirius acted as captains. Ben picked Charlie first, then Sirius picked Kathy. The final teams turned out to be Sirius, Kathy, Andrew Weasley, Jake Weasley, Andrea Weasley, and Lily Potter, against Ben, Phil Weasley, Charlie, Paul, Glen Lupin, and Jack Weasley.

Since Andrew and Phil were the only ones on each team who had ever played beater before, both teams played with only one beater, so they used just one Bludger, but the rest of the positions were the same.

The teams got into quick huddles before starting.

"All right... Since none of us really play seeker, who wants to do it?" asked Sirius, who seemed to be taking the role of captain very seriously even in this quick pick up game. Kathy thought it was pretty funny, actually.

"Well, I could try," offered Kathy.

"I kind of hoped you would play Chaser," said Sirius. "I mean, they've got Charlie, who actually plays Seeker for Slytherin. He's almost definitely going to get the Snitch before any of us, so I think that the best chance we have to win is outscoring them at the goals. So, it might be better if you played Chaser. I mean, you _are _an excellent Chaser."

"Thanks," said Kathy, slightly flattered. Of course, she _had _scored a fair amount of points last year on the Ravenclaw team, but still... hearing it from Sirius... He was such a great chaser himself... Kathy shook her head in an attempt to clear it, wondering why she was thinking about Sirius so much lately. But shaking her head didn't stop her from thinking about him. Then she started wondering why people thought it was a good idea to shake their heads to clear them in the first place. Ironically, this actually _did _distract her from Sirius a bit, in an indirect way.

"I could try," volunteered Lily. "I've never played Quidditch before, formally, but when I learned how to fly, my Dad let me use his Snitch to practice. He thinks maybe I can be a seeker, too," she finished with a smile.

"Sure," said Sirius. "That leaves Jake and Andrea. Which one of you wants to be Keeper?"

"I will," said Jake.

"Fair enough," said Sirius, and then the huddle broke up.

The game turned out to be pretty high-scoring, even though Ben was a quite competent Keeper.

Paul, Glen, and Jack were playing Chaser for the other team. Although Jack had just recently learned to fly, Glen was quite good. He didn't play for the Gryffindor first team, but as the Chaser first-team spots were taken by Sirius, and John, and the current captain of the team, there was really no shame in that. She reckoned that he could have made any of the other house teams, and would probably be able to fill one of the Chaser spots when the older ones graduated.

At any rate, by a certain point in the game, it seemed almost as if Sirius and Kathy were able to read each other's minds, anticipating their teammate's next turn, and throwing the quaffle ahead of them.

From their vantage points high above the grounds on their broomsticks, the kids were able to see black clouds coming in quickly from the distance. Although it had been rather cloudy all day, the new clouds coming in looked much more ominous.

It was looking like there might be a thunderstorm coming. Kathy reckoned she wouldn't much mind that. She had kind of a thing for thunderstorms. The dark clouds, contrasted every once in awhile by the quick flashes of lightning. The heavy, cool rain, which could feel so good on a hot day like today, and the earth-shaking thunder which could make you jump if you weren't expecting it.

Yes, in fact, she quite hoped there would be a thunderstorm today. But she also rather hoped that they'd get to finish the game first.

The Kathy-Sirius combination turned out to be a deadly one, as far as Quidditch went, and this was able to distract Ben enough that he had little attention left over to pay Andrea, who was therefore able to score several goals of her own.

The game stayed relatively close, however, and when it was 190-150 in Kathy's team's favor, Ben, who was playing captain for the other team, called a time-out.

"We're doing well so far," congratulated Sirius. "But Glen's playing better than I expected him to, so it doesn't look like we're going to be able to count on our chasers to win the game for us. Not that we're not working our butts off out there, mind. By the way, Kathy, you're doing really well. Don't know why you couldn't have been sorted into Gryffindor. And Jake and Andrea, you're doing great, too. I think the future of Gryffindor-Quidditch will have some hope after I graduate after all," he finished with a grin.

"Hey, what about me?" asked Andrew.

"Andrew, I'm not speaking to," continued Sirius, "as the Blugder hit me in the thigh, and I think I'm going to have a bruise."

"Yes, well, you should have dodged it. Besides, remember who the other team's got as their beater. I can't keep the Bludger away from you _all _the time!" said Andrew, in mock-defensive tones.

"Well, I'm still not talking to you," said Sirius. "Oh, damn. Well, perhaps I _am _talking to you, then. But I'm still rather peeved," he continued, as everyone laughed. "Anyway, my point is, Lily, it looks like the game's going to depend on whether or not you can catch the Snitch."

"No pressure, though," Kathy assured her with a laugh.

"Of course not," said Sirius. "But, I still think you can do it. After all, you've got about the same genes as your brother, right?"

"Er... I would assume so," registered Lily with a grin. In spite of the fact that she had mostly inherited her mother's looks, they were holding out hope that she had also inherited her father's seeking skills.

"Let's get started again, then!" called Ben from the opposing huddle.

They all mounted their brooms, and the game started again.

Glen started out with the Quaffle for the opposing team, but when he passed it toward Paul, Andrew managed to knock it off course by a really fantastic shot with the bludger. Andrea managed to swoop down and grab the quaffle from rather close to the ground. She tossed it to Sirius, who tossed it quickly to Kathy. Phil managed to chase down the bludger and hit it back in Kathy's direction, forcing her to re-evaluate her route toward the goal-hoops.

After dodging the bludger, Kathy found herself heading toward the far-left goal. Ben moved in the direction of that goal. Lupin was nearer to the far-right goal, and Kathy threw the ball toward him, figuring that he would throw it into the goal.

However, at that very moment, Charlie and Lily dove right in front of him, neck and neck, rushing toward the ground. They each had their upper bodies pressed flat against their brooms. Lily seemed to be pulling a bit ahead of Charlie, since she was smaller than him and caused less air resistance. But, then again, since Charlie had longer arms than Lily, he still had a good shot at catching the snitch.

Speaking of the snitch, Kathy had no idea where it was. She tried to find it, extending Charlie and Lily's path toward the ground. She didn't end up seeing it until Lily, who had managed to pull just a little bit further ahead of Charlie, had stretched out her hand and caught it. When she pulled up, she was only ten feet from the ground.

Everyone congregated on the ground and got off their brooms.

"What a rush!" said Lily.

"I can't believe you beat me on that!" said Charlie. "I bet I'll be playing against you as Seeker on the Gryffindor team in a few years."

"Good job!" said Sirius.

"Yeah, excellent," agreed Kathy.

"I don't know if I would've gotten it if it hadn't been sort of flying more toward my direction than Charlie's," she said modestly.

"That's part of the game," said Charlie. "Besides, I never would've seen the snitch if you hadn't dived down first. It would've been a spectacular showing for your first game even if you _hadn't_ caught it."

"So..." said Andrea, "anybody want to go back into the water?"

"I'm going to stay out here and fly for awhile," said Charlie.

While several of the kids went back to the water, Charlie, Lily, Ben, Sirius, and Kathy got back on their brooms to fly around for awhile, tossing the quaffle around between them.

After about 20 minutes of this, Kathy felt a raindrop. Then, she felt a couple more.

"You guys feel that?" asked Lily.

"Yeah," responded Ben. "I think I'm going to get off my broom. It's no fun flying in the rain."

They each got off their brooms. "Are you guys going inside?" asked Charlie.

"Well... I'll take my broom in, at any rate. I might come back out, though, I like thunderstorms," said Sirius.

"Really, you too?" asked Kathy.

Sirius looked at her appraisingly. "You like them as well? Are you going to come back out, then? I could use some company, as it looks like everyone else is going in," he said, glancing toward the other kids, running up from the beach to the house.

"Sure," said Kathy. "I'll meet you back out front after I put my broom in my room."

"All right, you two kids have fun, then," said Ben with a laugh. "Fancy a game of Wizard's Chess, Charlie?"

"Sure," responded Charlie.

"I'll take winner," said Lily, who was actually pretty good at chess.

Kathy put her broom back in the two bed room the she was sharing with her younger sister Andrea. As she headed back toward the front door, she passed through the big common room where most of the others were.

"Are you staying in out of the rain, Augusta?" asked Hermione. Her mother was the only one who called her by her actual first name. She had been the one to name her, too, apparently taking her name from the middle-name of a particularly intelligent opponent of Voldemort. Apparently, this woman had also managed to leave behind an enchanted journal that had helped her parents and Harry to find Voldemort's Horcruxes. However, for reasons that had never quite been fully explained to Kathy, her father had ended up hating that woman with a vengeance. But, apparently he had forgotten that the woman's middle-name was Augusta, which was why he had agreed to let his daughter have that name. Apparently, he didn't realize it until Harry mentioned it in passing, when Kathy was about two. Kathy couldn't remember, but according to her uncle Harry, this had sparked perhaps the most legendary of the Ron versus Hermione arguments. They never quite decided what to do about the name-issue, so it turned out to be up to Kathy herself. Hermione had kept calling her Augusta, while her father had always called her by her middle name. Being a bit of a daddy's girl, Kathy had naturally chosen to call herself by the name that her father used. She didn't regret the choice now, either. Augusta was such a stiff and formal-sounding name. Kathy didn't think it fit her too well.

"Er... wasn't planning on it," said Kathy, hoping that her mother wouldn't make her stay in.

"It's only rain," contended Ron.

"True," registered Fred. "Remember, we put up that charm to keep lightning from striking within 500 meters of the house."

"May I please go out, mother?" asked Kathy sweetly, knowing that the best way to convince her mother of anything would be to use good manners.

"I suppose so," said Hermione.

"Thanks mum," said Kathy, walking over and giving her a quick hug.

She met Sirius at the door. In spite of the rain, it was hot enough in the house that she was still sweating a bit from when she had run up the stairs. The rain would be quite refreshing.

He grinned at her before opening the door, "It's really coming down out there now. You ready?"

Kathy grinned back. "I'm sure I can handle it."

"All right, let's go," said Sirius, and opened the door. Sirius stepped out first, and Kathy followed him out into the pouring rain. The noise of the rain itself was enough to make them need to raise their volume when they were talking.

"So, what are we going to _do _out here?" asked Kathy.

"I'll race you down to the water," challenged Sirius.

"All right," said Kathy. "On three."

They counted to three together, and both started running in the sand toward the water.

It was a short sprint down to the water, but when they were halfway there, lightning flashed, lighting up the gray dimness.

They reached the water at the same time, just as the thunder from the lightning began to roll. Their shoes were off, since they didn't feel like getting them wet. Neither of them had a particularly easy time stopping, as they had been going at their full speeds. In attempting to stop, they each ended up nearly to their waists in water, before each lost their balance in the waves and fell over.

Each went under, momentarily, before coming up laughing.

"Well, you're awfully coordinated," said Kathy with a laugh.

Sirius frowned thoughtfully. "Yeah. Sometimes I don't know why I get off my broom. And now we're all wet."

"Yeah," Kathy agreed. "You come out into the rain to try to dry off, and end up all wet."

"Yes. Quite ironic," Sirius joked.

"Still, we might as well get out," said Kathy, looking at him. She was still trying to figure out whether he had felt the chemistry between them during their shared look earlier that day. If he had, he was showing no signs of it, and she was already beginning to think that things would be a whole lot easier if she hadn't felt it in the first place.

She had known him for most of her life, and had never had that type of feelings for him before. But then, when they'd been together, it had usually been in a much larger group. In fact, Kathy reflected, this little episode in the rain was possibly the longest they had ever been alone together.

They stood on the beach, where the waves lapping at the sand met the rainwater rushing down in rivulets from the higher ground. They looked out at the dark clouds over the water, watching the lightning flash and the waves crash. At least, that's what Sirius was looking at, and what Kathy had _intended _to be looking at. But, at some point Kathy, quite in spite of herself, became distracted from the storm and started looking at Sirius.

It was because of this distraction that she managed to be so surprised by a crash of thunder that she actually leapt into the air. This jumpiness, of course, would have caused quite enough embarrassment to be getting on with, but unfortunately, her little jump managed to cause her balance to falter.

She fell, as it turned out, right into Sirius' arms. Well, actually, she almost collapsed into a heap in front of him, and it was probably only by Sirius' Quidditch-instincts, which told him to grab any object moving toward him, that he ended up catching her instead of letting her fall to the ground.

Still, she wasn't overly displeased by the fact that her stumbling had left her quite conveniently wrapped in Sirius' arms. She _was _however, a bit displeased by the remarkable speed with which he let her go, after holding her only a second or two and asking her if she was all right.

As soon as she said she was all right, he let go, leaving her a bit disappointed and quite embarrassed. She grinned at him sheepishly. "Sorry 'bout that," she registered.

"It's ok," he said, grinning back slightly. Their eyes met for another brief moment, but this time Kathy was quite sure there was no connection between them. When she literally fell into his arms, he had let go of her so fast that she was almost absolutely certain that he had no feelings for her.

And she certainly wasn't going to ask him about it. She had managed to be quite embarrassed even without admitting that she liked him, so she wasn't going to do anything more to embarrass herself. She wished she could erase the feelings which she was starting to develop for him. But even as she wished this, she couldn't help but think of how charming, funny, and handsome he was.

It was then that Kathy realized that her emotions had gotten quite out of her own control. The damage had been done.

A/N: Well... I'd love to know what everybody thought of this chapter. I'm not sure whether it turned out well... This style is rather different for me, and encouragement will help me continue at a better pace. Unless I'm struck by sudden inspiration otherwise, next chapter will probably focus largely on Ben (son of Percy and Penelope). Among other things, it will explain how he started hanging out with John and Sirius.


	4. The Wheezing Marauders

A/N: Sorry for the long wait for an update... but I'm not even really convinced that many people are even following this story... Reviews would help me be sure of that, mind.

Chapter 4:

The Wheezing Marauders

"I think you ought to talk to Sirius," suggested John.

"I speak to him quite regularly," said Ben.

"Git," said John. "You know what I mean."

"Really?" asked Ben. Actually, he was pretty sure he _did _know what John meant, but the more he stalled like this, the more he could put off actually _doing _it.

"About Tiffany," said John.

Ben groaned. That was exactly what he had seen coming. Tiffany was a girl who Sirius started dating at the end of the summer before their fifth year. Tiffany had asked him out when she had seen him in Diagon Ally a week before school. At the time of the present conversation, however, it was a Friday afternoon in late November. Tiffany had dumped Sirius that morning, and he had been rather stand-offish ever since.

"Maybe he just needs time to get her out of his system on his own. I mean, they dated for three months, and nobody likes getting dumped. Can't we just give him his space for awhile?" asked Ben, knowing the answer.

"We could if there was any way we could pull this prank off without him," said John.

"Or we could just not pull the prank," said Ben.

"Are you feeling all right?" asked John, with what sounded almost exactly like genuine concern in his voice. "We can _never _just not pull a prank. It's against our nature. Besides, the Slytherins are prats, and there's no _way _the Hufflepuffs are going to respond effectively."

The Hufflepuffs had a match against Slytherin the next morning, and, as was traditional, there had been increased rivalry between the two houses during the week leading up to the match. However, a couple of seventh years from Slytherin had pulled a particularly nasty prank which had landed the captain of the Hufflepuff team in the hospital wing, and it was questionable whether she would be well enough to play in the match the next day. There was no question that this foul play – a sin against Quidditch-- needed to be avenged.

"Well then why don't _you _talk to him?" asked Ben.

"You're better at all the 'talking about your feelings' stuff. I think it's because you've always been more girly than me," joked John.

"Oh, really wise. You're asking me for a favor and insulting me," said Ben.

"No, I'm asking you to be a good friend and talk to Sirius. And it's not really fair to him to hold my being a prat against him. You really _are _better at that sort of talk," claimed John.

"Fine, I'll talk to him. Meanwhile, you think up a really good prank," Ben advised.

"No problem. I think he's up in the dorm-room sulking," John said.

Ben made his way up the stairs from the common room to the fifth-year boys' dorm.

He opened the door and glanced over at Sirius' bed. The curtains were closed, but there were shadows on them suggesting that someone was inside.

"Oy, Sirius!" called Ben. "Why're you sitting alone?"

"I'm doing homework," contended Sirius.

"No you're not, it's a Friday afternoon. It's not even _possible _to do homework on a Friday afternoon," Ben pointed out.

"It is when O.W.L.s are coming up. Your Aunt Hermione has almost assigned more homework so far this year than we did all of last year!" complained Sirius, who had pulled back the curtains on his bed to reveal that his Transfiguration book was in fact sitting open on his lap.

"Point taken... But you could work on homework in the Common Room. You're up here because of Tiffany, aren't you?" asked Ben.

"Maybe," admitted Sirius.

"Fair enough," said Ben.

"Girls are gits," contended Sirius.

"Well... Not all of them. Tiffany, yes. But not all of them," said Ben, trying to be reassuring.

"I heard in Potions this afternoon, apparently she's been seeing Rogers behind my back for months," pointed out Sirius.

"_Months_?" asked Ben, surprised. "You were only going out with her for three months yourself."

"Yes, I've done the math," said Sirius. "Sounds like she started seeing him a few weeks after we started dating."

"Geez. She _is _a git, then" said Ben.

"Rogers, too. Of course, he's a Slytherin, so you can't expect much else. What kind of Gryffindor dates a Slytherin, anyway?" asked Sirius.

Ben stayed silent for a moment, deciding that the obvious answer of "Tiffany" would be inappropriate.

"Look, I'm sure you'll find a better girl in no time flat," pointed out Ben.

"You're just saying that. If I can't hold Tiffany's interest for more than a couple weeks, what kind of a girl am I going to be able to hold onto?" asked Sirius.

"One who's less fickle, for starters," suggested Ben.

Sirius laughed a bit in spite of himself. "Okay, point granted. But still. Rejection just sucks."

"Indeed it does," agreed Ben, who had already been turned down once that year. But he knew that Sirius, at least, was better off than he realized. Three days after Sirius and Tiffany had started dating, Kathy had confided in Ben that she had feelings for Sirius.

* * *

Ben's and Kathy's families had been having dinner together that night. Kathy's family had dinner with Ben's family once a month, provoked by Hermione's feeling bad that Percy's siblings hardly ever seemed to spend much time with him. 

Anyway, at this particular dinner, Ben, who had a tendency of noticing such things, noticed that Kathy was less talkative than usual. So, after the meal, when Jake, Andrea, and Christine were having a conversation of their own, and the adults were having some wine, Ben went to seek out Kathy.

Her door was closed, but he decided to give knocking a try anyway.

"Who is it?" asked Kathy from inside.

"It's Ben. Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked. He purposefully tried to make it sound like it was him who needed to talk, instead of that he thought _she _needed some comforting. He figured that if she thought he was coming to comfort her, she might get defensive and claim she didn't need help. It'd be much less likely that she'd refuse to talk to him if she thought he needed help.

"Er, yeah. Hold on a sec," she said. A moment later, she came to the door, which she had apparently locked by the muggle method, being too young to practice magic out of school. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Ben had not really planned this far ahead, but quickly racked his head for a fake concern that could get them far enough into a conversation so that he'd be able to come up with a tactful way to turn the conversation around to her. "Er... I'm kind of worried about O.W.L.s coming up this year," he said, realizing as he said it that this wasn't exactly a lie.

"Hmm..." said Kathy, as she sat back down on her bed, patting a spot beside her to invite him to sit down as well. "Well, I must admit that I don't envy your position this year. I mean, so much of your future depends-- But I'm sure you've already thought of that, eh?"

"Yeah, that's kind of the problem," said Ben.

"What is it that you're thinking of doing, anyway?" she asked.

"I was hoping to be a curse-breaker, like my father," he said.

"Ew... that _could _be tough, then. You've got to pass Arithmancy, and Ancient Runes would look good on your application, too, besides the usual requirements like Transfiguration, potions, and D.A.D.A." she said.

"I know," he affirmed. He was actually starting to get more nervous about the prospect of O.W.L.s than he had been originally. "I mean, Sirius is taking Arithmancy, too, so we can always study together, but I'm the only one from Gryffindor in Ancient Runes..."

He had, however, noticed an odd expression flicker across Kathy's face when he said Sirius' name. This could be precisely the segue he was looking for.

"Hey, is something wrong?" he asked cautiously. "When I said 'Sirius,' you frowned really weird."

"Did I?" asked Kathy, but she wasn't able to pull off sounding surprised too well.

"Look, I noticed something was wrong at dinner, and now I know something's going on for sure. Don't lie to me... Come on, I've got to be one of your... top five favorite cousins!" he joked.

"Haha... I'll give you top five, I guess... But do I _have_ to tell you what's bugging me?" she asked.

"I suppose not, but if not I think we ought to figure out how I'm going to pass all my O.W.L.s this year," he said.

Kathy sighed, "All right, well... I'm going to need some time to think about _that_, so I guess I'll tell you what's bothering me. I guess talking about it couldn't hurt, anyway. Just, you've got to promise never to tell anyone, without my getting my permission first."

"No problem," said Ben. "What are cousins for, if not keeping secrets?"

"I assumed they were for practicing Quidditch against," opined Kathy.

"Well... that too, of course," he agreed.

"All right, well, anyway... Speaking of Quidditch, do you remember that day at the beach-house a few weeks ago, when we played our first large-scale Quidditch match this summer?" she asked. There had been a couple more such Quiddtich games since then.

"Yeah," said Ben, not sure where exactly this was going.

"Well, that day, I kind of developed a crush on Sirius," she said quickly, starting to blush.

Ben nodded, trying to relieve her embarrassment. "I kind of figured that's what it was... Especially when you made me promise not to tell anyone."

"So, you don't think it's weird?" asked Kathy.

"Why would it be weird?" asked Ben.

"I don't know..." said Kathy hesitantly.

"I think you're just overly self-conscious," said Ben.

"Well, yeah, there's that, and now there's the fact that he's got a girlfriend now," she said.

"Well, that doesn't make it weird that you still like him, you can't help he's got a girlfriend. Besides, Tiffany's kind of flaky anyway. I bet this won't last for more than three weeks. Then we can figure out a way to get you and Sirius together," Ben promised.

"You really think he'd go out with me?" she asked.

"From what he's told me about this Tiffany girl, he only said yes to her in the first place because she asked him. Now he's convinced himself that he actually likes her, but I think it's just that he's really open to suggestion. He said yes to her in the first place not to hurt her feelings, and now he thinks he likes her because that's what he wants to believe," said Ben. While it was true that Sirius had shown no interest in Tiffany before she asked him out, the bits about him being really open to suggestion and whatnot were mostly improvised on the spot, to make Kathy feel better. For all Ben knew, they could be true, though.

"So... you're saying that he'd go out with me because he has no standards?" asked Kathy.

Ben rolled his eyes, "No, I'm just saying that he wouldn't turn you down out of hand... And then you'd have a chance to show him how great you really are."

"Thanks, Ben," smiled Kathy. "Now let's figure out how we're going to solve your O.W.L. problem."

* * *

From what Ben remembered, thinking back on the conversation while he was talking to Sirius in the dorm room three months later, they never did really figure out how he would pass all his O.W.L.'s. But the more relevant point now, he thought, was the fact that Sirius' recent break-up might just give the perfect opportunity for a new relationship to begin. 

At any rate, it seemed that knowing that Kathy had feelings for him would at least cheer Sirius up. Ben briefly cursed the fact that he still had to check with Kathy before telling Sirius. He was sure that she still felt the same way, though, as had been confirmed by a couple of conversations between Kathy and Ben since the year started.

"Anyway..." said Sirius hesitantly. "I kind of think I might like someone else already. Is that bad?"

"Aside from the fact that it makes you almost as fickle as Tiffany, I guess not. Depending on who the person is, anyway. I think I'm going to have to screen your dating decisions ahead of time now, so you don't pick someone like Tiffany again," he joked.

Sirius laughed slightly. "I'm not sure you're going to like this decision too much, anyway. Although she's nothing like Tiffany," he said.

Ben hoped he was talking about Kathy. "Try me," he said.

"Well... I guess I'd've told you before acting on it anyway, so... I think I like Kathy," he said.

"Really?" asked Ben, in a voice which he immediately realized must've sounded oddly excited. But he was glad that it looked like things were about to work out for his best friend and his cousin.

"Yeah," said Sirius, who did in fact seem surprised by Ben's reaction. "You mean, it's not weird that I want to date your cousin?" he asked.

"No, you're confused," said Ben. "It'd be weird if you wanted to date _your _cousin."

"Right, but... I spend so much time around you lot, sometimes I almost _feel _like I'm related to you and John... Which would, by extension, make me related to Kathy. Besides, if we ended up breaking up, wouldn't that make things awkward, with you guys having to choose sides?" he asked.

"Well... I don't figure you two would have a particularly nasty break-up. You're both pretty mellow people. And, no offense, but you've got to have Weasley blood to be a Weasley, so you're really _not _practically her cousin," said Ben.

"Well, I mean, I knew _that_," said Sirius. "Still, I was sure you and John would never go for me asking your cousin out. That's part of why I agreed to go out with Tiffany. Figured she'd get my mind off Kathy."

"Wait, you liked her that long ago?" asked Ben, surprised.

"Yeah. Do you remember that day we played Quidditch at the beach-house, and there was a thunderstorm?" he asked.

"Really?" asked Ben. "I mean... I was _there _that day, and I didn't think there was anything between you."

Sirius looked puzzled. "You seem to have thought about this before, though... Wait!"

"Oh no," said Ben, who hadn't thought about what he was saying and had inadvertently given Kathy's feelings away.

"D'you mean to tell me that--" said Sirius.

"I didn't _mean _to tell you anything," said Ben. "And my lips are now officially closed for business on the topic. However. That Rogers troll who Tiffany was cheating on you with is the Keeper for the Slytherin Quidditch team, isn't he?"

Sirius seemed intrigued enough by where this line of questioning seemed to be going that he allowed himself to be distracted from the Kathy question for a moment. "Yeah, why?" he asked.

"Well... We kind of owe the Slytherin house a prank on behalf of Hufflepuff, and I can't think of any better way to kill to birds with one stone, here," said Ben.

"Excellent," said Sirius.

* * *

Pranking was pretty much the favorite past-time of Sirius, Ben, and John. In fact, it had been a particularly fantastic prank which had, in effect, acted as Ben's initiation into what Sirius, Ben, and John thought of as the "Wheezing Marauders," since they thought of themselves as the successors to both the Marauders and the creators of Weasley Wizards Wheezes. 

It had been in their third year, when Charlie, who was a first year at the time, was being particularly harassed by Malfoy and his cronies, who were in the same year as Sirius, Ben, and John.

At the time, Ben didn't hang out nearly as much with Sirius and John as the two hung out with each other, but they were all still friends. However, after hearing what they'd heard about Ben's father, Percy, Sirius and John had not yet been quite sure that Ben was the type of person they wanted to be too close with. It seemed that his father had a tendency to turn on people unexpectedly, and they weren't sure if that trait could be carried through generations. At least, that was what Ben suspected the problem was. He had been looking for an opportunity to earn more trust from them.

Charlie, however, had run into Ben in an empty corridor, and he had been particularly upset by the nearly constant harassment he was earning from Malfoy. After glancing around the hall to make sure no one else was around, he said, "Ben, Malfoy and his friends are being bloody gits. And... In case you're curious, the password to the Slytherin common-room is 'Parsel-tongue basilisk.' And this," he reached into his book-bag and handed him a rolled up bit of parchment, "is the Marauders' Map. I suppose you've heard how to use it?"

Ben grinned widely, "Yeah, your Dad told me a story about it once. He actually gave this to you?"

"Yeah. He said it came in so useful when he was a kid, he thought I should have it. Anyway, you can borrow it if you promise to do something nasty to Malfoy and his friends."

"Will do. I'm sure John and Sirius will be up to the task, too," he said.

Charlie gave a small smile. "Thanks, Ben."

Ben was right to think that Sirius and John would be up for it. When he told them he knew the Slytherin password, their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"We've got a mission, though," Ben cautioned.

"We'll do it, just so long as we get to prank some Slytherins. Actually, we've just found this spell we're _dying _to test out. And sleeping Slytherins would be the optimal test-group," said John excitedly.

"Malfoy and his friends have been giving Charlie a really hard time, and he wants us to try to make it stop," said Ben.

"Oh, if this spell works, I'm sure they'll do whatever they can to make sure it doesn't happen again," said Sirius.

"If you're in on this, you know you can kiss your chances of being a prefect good-bye if we're caught, right?" asked John.

"I never really wanted to be a prefect anyway," said Ben with a grin.

That night, at 1:00 in the morning, when the Marauders' Map showed them that the last Slytherin had gone to bed, Ben, Sirius, and John broke into the Slytherin commonroom, and from there made their way to Malfoy's dorm, where he and his two best friends were sleeping.

Each Ben, Sirius, and John chose one of their victims and cast a spell on them which would put them into a deeper sleep, so that neither of the next two spells they were going to perform would wake them up.

The next spell had the incantation "Hermaphrodito" and was a spell that, put quite simply, gave the three boys rather generous breasts. The next spell they performed was one that would prevent the previous spell from being reversed by Finite Incantatem.

"You know, if you two put this kind of effort into your classes, you'd get the highest marks in our year," said Ben.

"Yeah, but then Ms. Malfoy would still be flat-chested. And that would just be a pity," said John.

"Too true," agreed Sirius.

They then took all of the boys' outer clothes and hid them in the Great Hall so that they'd have no way to cover up before going down to Madame Pomfrey's office to get healed. Ben, Sirius, and John would make sure there'd be quite an audience to watch the scene, too.

Before leaving the room, the three had written a note to the now more lady-like boys that cautioned them to stop picking on people so much if they wanted to make sure nothing like this happened again.

The next morning, the audience that gathered in the Slytherin dungeons was quite amused to see Malfoy and his cronies emerge wearing only their underwear and bras that they had somehow managed to acquire from their housemates. But, much as John, Ben, and Sirius had hoped, the Slytherins were clearly cold enough even to their housemates that they were perfectly content for them to be publicly humiliated rather than lend them their own robes.

And, according to Charlie, Malfoy didn't pick on much of anybody for the rest of that year, and even his own fellow Slytherins mocked him and his friends mercilessly for the humiliation.

* * *

Ben, John, and Sirius reminisced about that prank as they made their way through the halls on that Friday night in November of their fifth year. They were obliged to do this without the aid of the Marauders' Map, since they knew Charlie wouldn't loan it to him so that they could sabotage his own Quidditch team. 

This was understandable, but still rather annoying.

At any rate, Sirius was able to predict where Rogers might be, since he knew all of Tiffany's favorite make-out spots.

And luckily, a quick glance into the second classroom Sirius had suggested showed them that Rogers was in fact there.

They positioned themselves strategically in the corridor leading from the classroom to the Slytherin common-room, knowing that Rogers would be coming alone down this corridor.

"Should we hide, in case a prefect comes along?" whispered Ben, somewhat nervously.

John, who was the Gryffindor boys' fifth year prefect, waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. The two prefects patrolling tonight are both from Hufflepuff. They're angrier about this prank of the Slytherins' than we are. If we just tell them what we're up to, we've got nothing to worry about."

"Brilliant," opined Sirius.

The three remained quiet until they heard footsteps coming down the corridor.

As Rogers came around the corner, actually whistling, Sirius trained his wand on him.

"Drink this, or we hex you," said Ben, offering him a small bottle with the letters Weasleys' Wizards' Wheezes logo on it.

"It's not going to hurt me, is it?" asked Rogers, nervously, trying to determine whether he'd be better off with the hex.

"Nah, it's just a potion that will make it so that you can't squeal on us for what we're about to do," said John, honestly. The potion was a product from Weasley Wizard's Wheezes, supplied to John, Ben, and Sirius by Fred's sons Phil and Andrew, who basically acted as Fred and George's pushers within the school.

"Oh, yeah, I've heard of that," said Rogers, who still drank the potion rather nervously. "What are you going to do to me?" he asked.

"Just going to politely remove you from the game tomorrow, like your lot tried to do to the poor Hufflepuff Captain. Although, I heard she's better already, so you being out could cost your side the game. Mind you, that's not really our problem," said John conversationally as Rogers was led at wand-point to the Room of Requirement.

Ben paced around in front of the room to get it to have what he needed, and when it opened, there was a chair equipped with magical chains.

"Have a seat, then," encouraged Sirius.

Rogers did so, knowing he had no other options.

"Well, have a good time, then," said John, mockingly. "You'll find you're able to get out of the chair once the Quidditch match is over."

"Hopefully this will encourage your House to play fair in the future," said Ben.

"And hopefully it'll encourage you not to snog other people's girlfriends," added Sirius. "Oh, one more thing." He took out a bottle of itching powder and sprinkled some on Rogers. This was Weasleys' itching powder, so it wouldn't come off without water, which Rogers would have no access to in the room.

"So," said Ben, moments later, as they were making their way back from the Room of Requirement to Gryffindor Tower, "D you really reckon that Hufflepuff has got a shot now?"

"Not with Charlie as Slytherin's Seeker, no," said John.

"Quidditch would be so much easier if he were in Gryffindor," agreed Sirius.

A/N: All right, kind of an odd way to end a chapter, but... It's a pretty long chapter at least. Hopefully you enjoyed it, and if you did, I certainly encourage you to review. Next chapter, I believe, ought to have Sirius as the main character... And I think we'll have another one with Charlie coming up after that. Oh... also... if you like parodies, I just put up the first chapter of a new one about the Marauders and Lily. Feel free to take a look.


End file.
